IN THE DARK ROOM
by slytherix
Summary: [AU - no rewind power] [Max & Victoria & Nathan] [Max & Jefferson] Maxine Caulfield built up the ultimately perfect life, with perfect record, perfect reputation and perfect friends. Until she met The Dark Room and his sick obsession. She then became Blackwell Academy's new Rachel Amber, and this time, there was nobody to save her from it.


**INTRODUCTION**

**This story contains spoilers from Life is Strange: Episode 1-5. You have been warned.**

**(SPOILER \- Something you would perhaps rather discover yourself instead of having it spoiled by somebody else. A good example would be an instance of a character dying in the last episode of the season you haven't watched yet, but found out about it by accident from somebody or somewhere.)**

**Life is Strange's age rating is M, designed for mature audiences of approximately 16 years old. Please keep that in mind before you decide to read this story. Personally, I recommend reading my Fan Fiction if you are at least 17/18 years of age. It will include content unsuitable for audiences below that age group, and by reading it, you are doing so on your own risk. This story will be especially disturbing.**

**This is a work of Fan Fiction using characters from the Life is Strange world, which is trademarked by Square Enix. I do not claim any ownership over its world nor its characters. This story is my own invention created for entertainment purposes only.**

* * *

**TW**

**The Trigger Warnings for this Chapter are:**

**I. Foul Language.**

* * *

**I**

* * *

What did she feel?

Definitely excitement; but also nervousness.

She arrived around 10AM, looking for her room. The boxes were heavy, with no one around to help.

Her cerulean eyes focused on the key-chain attached to the keys.

219 was written in black ink.

Her legs carried her forward, until finally stopping towards the end of the corridor. Upon her right, was the door marked with the numbers matching her key-tag. With one swift movement of the right hand, the lock was turned, and she was inside.

The room was fine. It was small and ordinary, but fine. She could do with that.

The brunette slowly, but steadily, carried all the boxes inside, or rather, pushed them inside with her foot, allowing for the cardboard to drag around the floor.

Upon the commotion, the door opposite, 211, flew open with a bang against the wall. She immediately whipped her head around at the sound.

''Whom, the fuck, is making all that ruckus?'' A girl with short, purple hair emerged from the room, expression sour. When noticing the brunette, she immediately changed her demeanour, walking towards her with interest. ''Oh hi, you're new, right?'' She asked, but didn't provide enough time for the girl to answer. ''That's cool and all, but can't you please be more quiet? Some of us have _really_ nasty hangovers, y'know?''

The brunette raised an eyebrow.

''Courtney!'' A female voice called from the room the purple-haired girl has emerged from. ''Bring me a freaking coffee.''

The voice sounded tired, and _definitely_ hangover.

The girl instantly turned around. ''Yes, of course, Victoria! I'll be right back,'' she faced the brunette once again. ''Gotta go. Bye!'' She began to hurry away down the corridor, forgetting to close the door behind her.

Max stood there for a moment, taken aback by the situation, before continuing to move the boxes into her room, this time, trying to get them off the floor. Which wasn't an easy task, considering the amount of crap she had packed.

''Jesus fucking Christ,'' a quiet, but very annoyed voice, sounded from the opened room across. A tall, slim blonde suddenly appeared in the door frame, instantly reaching for the door handle. She was dressed in her PJ's, a simple white tank top and blue shorts that really made her long legs stand out. The brunette only had a brief moment to observe the female's appearance before she closed the door with a slight, but present smack without even bothering to look up.

It was enough to notice how beautiful she was.

* * *

Finding the right classroom was damn near impossible, especially when running late.

Max felt like crying. It was her first day, and she already managed to mess everything up. She had slept awfully. Firstly, she couldn't fall asleep at all, and spent hours tossing and turning. And when she finally did, she slept through her alarm and couldn't get up. Then due to lack of time, had to choose whatever clothes she found on the floor, and on top of that, had no time to put any make-up on. To sum it all up, she hated her first day at Blackwell.

But her day was almost over. She had one more lesson to get through, and she would be free.

And it wasn't just any lesson. It was_ THE_ lesson she had so eagerly awaited for so long; _THE_ lesson with _THE_ Mark Jefferson.

Her biggest idol, an icon she looked up to and aspired to become as talented as he was -no- _swore_ to become as talented as he was.

She wanted to make the best impression possible, but how could she, if she were to be late?

''Excuse me,'' she stepped in somebody's way, stopping them right in their track.

It was a boy, who was now furrowing his eyebrows at the brunette in confusion as well as annoyance. He tried to pass her, but she extended her left hand, putting it against the locker to block his path. His expression shaped into mild amusement.

''I need some help locating a classroom. I'm going to be late otherwise,'' she stood her ground, asking in the nicest way possible. That seemed to entertain him.

''I'll be late too, if you won't get outta my way,'' he said, yet made no effort to move. He simply crossed his arms, measuring the girl's face with his stern expression. She suddenly felt embarrassed, remembering she haven't put any make-up on.

''Then just point me in the right direction and you won't be,'' Max furrowed her eyebrows, changing tone ever so slightly to intimidate him. ''You don't have to be an ass about it.''

That seemed to really amuse the guy, as he burst out laughing. There was something unsettling about the way he did so. ''You got some lady balls, huh?'' His right hand landed with a smack on the locker right next to her head, but the brunette didn't even flinch. Her left hand also remained on the locker.

Both of them held each other's stare for a longer, pressuring moment.

''_Pfffft_,'' he suddenly drew back, looking away to exhale with a humorous smirk. ''You're lucky you're cute.''

''And you're lucky I'm in a hurry,'' she crossed her arms, completely unmoved by his remark. She was going to get to Mark Jefferson's class on time, and nothing - or nobody was going to stop her. No way in hell would she let that happen. ''Art classroom. Where is it?''

The boy shook his head slightly, eyes closed, as if to say, _the nerve of this girl_. ''Right there,'' he gestured with his head behind him, then shifted his body to the side, side-glancing at a girl standing at the end of the hallway. ''By that blonde chick. Knock yourself out.'' Without further thinking, Max set to walk in the said direction. She looked behind at the boy, who didn't move from his place, but instead, was watching her go.

She quickly looked away and focused on the female standing near a doorway. Upon closing the distance between them, the brunette immediately recognised her as the blonde from the day before - the hangover girl from the room opposite hers. She was looking right at Max, one arm at her hip, other free hand clutching a phone. A sudden surge of embarrassment washed over the brunette as she walked, wondering why the girl was so intensively observing her.

Max made a turn to walk into the classroom, but was very suddenly cut off by the girl who literally jumped into the door-frame, blocking it with her body.

She was taller than the brunette, and was therefore looming over her in an extremely intimidating manner. Max immediately felt worse under her intense, judging glare.

Her eyes involuntarily diverted from her face underneath the pressure. She instinctively reached for her elbow, bringing her arm closer to herself in an anxious manner. ''Can I... help you?'' She asked unsurely, the blonde's tactics working perfectly well on the brunette.

''Help me?'' The female raised an eyebrow, the corner of her mouth shifting into a sly smirk. ''What could _you_ possibly help _me_ with?'' Her voice was elegant, confident and... sexy. Max couldn't help it. The girl was stunning, and she had to admit it, even if she was a bitch.

The brunette didn't know what to say. So she just stood there, allowing for the blonde to remain in control. ''I saw you talking to Nathan,'' she stated calmly, with something alike curiosity written on her face. Max immediately furrowed her eyebrows.

''Look, if that's your boyfriend or something, I really don't care, I was only-''

The blonde burst out laughing. Max was even more confused than she was before.

''Oh you silly little thing,'' the blonde shook her head slightly. She opened her mouth to speak again, but with the corner of her eye noticed something that stopped her from doing so. "Mr. Jefferson," she waved a bit too excitedly with her left hand, entire body language changing.

At the mention of his name, Max practically whipped her head around. Undoubtedly, _THE_ Mark Jefferson in the flesh, was heading their way.

"It's so good to see you!" Victoria shifted her body, positioning herself in front of Max, blocking her view. "I didn't think I could actually miss school, but ever since I've enrolled in your class, it has been the most dreadful summer ever," the blonde continued, gesturing with her hands in a sophisticated manner.

Max tried to peek from her position to get a better look at the male. She couldn't believe he was standing right in front of her, and that they were about to spend an hour together... She couldn't believe she would be taught by her biggest idol ever. It was all a dream come true.

But most importantly, she couldn't believe how much hotter he was in person...

''You must be Victoria then, I take it,'' Mark Jefferson flashed the blonde a charming smile before extending his right hand that she very eagerly reached for.

''That's me in the flesh,'' she laughed softly, her hand lingering on the gentle handshake a moment too long.

_God, make it even more obvious that you're nuts about him, won't you?_ Max thought with annoyance, crossing her arms at the sight.

''I can't even begin to comprehend how grateful I am to be able to attend your class, Mr. Jefferson,'' Victoria finally let go of his hand, instead placing her palm onto her hip in a confident manner. ''And I'm even more grateful for your response to my emails. I can't wait for you to see more of my work and get some of your essential feedback on it.''

Mark glanced at Max for the first time, causing her to slightly part her lips in awe. He was a literal, live artwork. Everything was perfect about him. The way he looked, talked, dressed... She was honestly glad the blonde was speaking, because Max was convinced she couldn't get any words out of herself even if she tried right now.

Victoria was visibly going to say something, but Jefferson cut her off before she could even start. ''And what about you? Are you also gonna be one of my students?'' He asked in a friendly manner, causing the brunette to uncross her arms, instead beginning to nervously fiddle with own fingers.

Mark Jefferson was talking to her.

"Um... yeah, actually. I'm Max...ine. It's great to finally meet you, I'm a huge fan of your work,'' Max managed to say, immediately feeling a rush of heat travelling to her entire face.

_Try not to make a fool out of yourself, Max,_ she thought, putting her best smile on. _Keyword, try._

Victoria crossed her arms with a displeased look on her face, visibly agitated by the sudden avert of Mark's attention from her, but the two of them didn't seem to take notice.

"Pleasure to meet you, Max. I'm sure I'll become a fan of yours once I see it, too,'' Jefferson answered through nonchalant smile, then looked at his watch on the left wrist. "Well, it's time for class, girls. Let's go inside and chat more, hm?'' He extended his right hand in a manner suggesting they should enter the classroom. Victoria stared daggers at Max, expecting her to go first.

The brunette did, roughly scanning the room with a casual glance as she unsurely moved to an empty desk at the end, sitting herself down.

"Hello everybody," Jefferson shortly followed through, setting his bag down onto his desk. "Good to see you on time," he smiled widely before slowly making his way around the classroom. "Some of you may already know me. For those who don't, I'm Mark Jefferson,'' he leaned back against the middle desk, eyeing every student in turn. "And from now on, I'll be your photography teacher.''

Max thought about pinching herself. Just to make sure it wasn't a dream… Because it definitely felt like one.


End file.
